Patent GB-777211-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to packaging machines for packaging articles between layers of film material
Inventor: WESTON BENNETT
IPC: B65B35/12
Filed: 1952-05-26
Abstract: 777,211. Wrapping-machines. IDEAL PACKAGINGS, Ltd. Aug. 26, 1953 [May 26, 1952], No. 13270/52. Class 94(1). In a machine in which successive articles are enclosed between moving webs of wrapping material by pocketed sealing rollers, the articles are fed in succession to a position between the webs on the inlet side of the rollers and each article is temporarily retained by yieldable means until pressure is applied to the webs to cause them to grip the article and overcome the resistance of the retaining means. The articles, e.g. tablets, to be wrapped are contained in a tray 3 which is vibrated to feed them to shoots defined by guide strips 6a and 6b secured to an inclined plate 5, a brush 7, positioned above the delivery edge of the tray, being rotated anti-clockwise to confine the tablets to a single layer. The plate 5 is formed with slots 8 and holes 9 to allow the escape of broken tablets and to prevent congestion at the upper ends of the guide strips 6b. The upper ends of alternate guide strips 6a are formed by pivoted members 6c which are oscillated through linkage by a cam 19 on the shaft 18 of the brush to prevent jamming at the entrances of the shoots. An adjustable grid 24 is provided to retain the tablets in the shoots. Extensions 28 of the guide strips 6b are shaped to form fingers 29 and slotted for the reception of plates 30 to which are pivoted escapement members 32 acted on by springs 34 disposed in the slots, each member being formed with an arcuate portion 33 which co-operates with the adjacent edge of a finger 29 to retain each tablet as it arrives at the bottom of a shoot. When the tablet is gripped between the webs, the member swings about its pivot to allow further movement of the tablet and a portion p thereof temporarily obstructs the movement of the next tablet. The fingers 29 overlie a plate 27 which is spaced from the lower edge of the plate 5 to form a guide through which one of the webs 2 passes from a supply roll 38 to the nip of the sealing rollers 35, 36. The other web 1 is led from a supply roll 37 under an adjustable bar 39 to the nip of the rollers, the bar being set so that the web just brushes against the surface of the leadng tablets. A number of pressure fingers 41 are freely mounted on a transverse shaft 42 and are each biased downwardly by a coil spring 43 having its end located in one of a series of slots 50 in an anchorage 44 secured to the shaft. The fingers are secured to tappets 48 which are normally engaged by a bar 49 to maintain the fingers clear of the web 1. The bar is carried by levers 61, 63, the former carrying an adjustable follower 64 engaging a cam 60 on the shaft 51 of the roller 35, whereby the bar is periodically moved clear of the tappets to allow each finger to be pressed against the web 1 by its spring 43. The loading of the latter is adjustable by locating its end in a different slot 50. The combined webs issuing from the rollers 35, 36 are slit or perforated longitudinally between the lines of tablets by rotary discs 69, 70 and are then slit and perforated transversely between successive rows of tablets by the mechanism described in Specification 777,212.